ROLAND
BLUES CUBE STAGE
REVIEW BY FLETCHER STEWART
STREET PRICE $699.00
OLD SCHOOL
SOUL MEETS
NEW SCHOOL
CONTROL
The first thing one needs
to understand about these
classy new Roland combos
is that they are not the entry
level, do-it-all-on-a-budget
Cubes of yesteryear. These
are completely gig-worthy
amps that brazenly bring
together attributes from the
boutique, modeling, solidstate and tube amp schools
of design. Roland has always
been on the forefront of
music technology and it is
big enough to take risks and
push products that aren’t
38
GEAR REVIEW
//
just safe bets. I am here to
tell you that, in tonal terms,
with great risk comes great
rewards. This new Tube
Logic technology is no
gimmick.
Upon unboxing the Blues
Cube Stage, I lifted it easily
out of the packaging and
was pleasantly surprised to
see creamy Tolex adorned
with metal corner protectors
and a matching badge. So
far so good. Taking a peek
into the open back of the
combo, I checked for cheap
particleboard and found
only poplar plywood and
clean, robust construction. I
immediately plugged in my
Roland Blues Cube Stage
Reverend Hotshot Jr (armed
with a Mojotone Gold Foil in
the bridge) and got down to
business.
FUTURE TOUCH
FOR THE REAL
DEAL FEEL
With all the controls set
to noon and the power
control on the lowest (0.5W)
setting, I hit an open G
chord. A beautiful, silky
clean tone emanated from
the cabinet. As I edged up
the clean volume, a tweedlike squidgy compression
became apparent and my
slide work was aided by
the extra sustain. When I